The new H&M campaign, #Ladylike, offers a seemingly freeing premise:

“’Ladylike [ˈleɪdɪlʌɪk]: Appropriate for or typical of a well-bred, decorous woman or girl.’

According to H&M, the dictionary definition of the term ladylike is both old and outdated. This month, the brand introduces a new set of words to define what proper ladylike behaviour could be; bad-ass, independent, free-willed, entertaining, opinionated and off-beat.”

DON’T LET THIS CAPITALIST APPROPRIATION OF FEMINISM FOOL YOU!

H&M is commodifying our activism and selling it back to us in the form of clothing, but the company’s actions speak louder than their advertising.

They actively:

Fire women for being pregnant

Refuse to sell clothing above size 12 in most stores

“Employ” child refugees without pay

Fire factory workers who can’t/won’t work excessive overtime hours (for which they are not compensated as such anyway)

Permit sexual harassment and exploitation in the workplace

H&M doesn’t care about your feminism. They care about their profit.

Nikolaos Gyzis (Greek, 1842-1901)